System and method for avoiding duplication of effort in drafting documents

ABSTRACT

A system and method is provided for avoiding duplication of effort in drafting documents and, in particular, to a system and method for avoiding duplication of effort in preparing patent related submissions. The method is implemented on a computer infrastructure comprises storing disclosure information related to non-public proprietary innovation and receiving terms associated with an innovation. The method further comprises matching the terms with the stored disclosure information and providing an alert to a user that certain of the terms overlap with the stored disclosure information.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to a system and method for avoidingduplication of effort in drafting documents and, in particular, to asystem and method for avoiding duplication of effort in preparing patentrelated submissions.

BACKGROUND

Many companies such as, for example, International Business MachinesCorporation, encourage innovation. For example, in encouraginginnovation, these companies support patent development programs withtheir employee base. These patent development programs include, forexample, corporate wide invention programs that provide tools andresources for the employee base to be successful innovators and hence,patent holders. These resources, for example, include standardized toolsto complete patent submissions such as, for example, standardized patentdisclosure forms.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect of the invention, a method implemented on a computerinfrastructure comprises storing disclosure information related tonon-public proprietary innovation and receiving terms associated with aninnovation. The method further comprises matching the terms with thestored disclosure information and providing an alert to a user thatcertain of the terms overlap with the stored disclosure information.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer program product comprisesa computer usable storage medium having readable program code tangiblyembodied in the storage medium. The computer program product is operableto: compare disclosure documents stored in a database with termsprovided by a user; and provide an alert of matching technology withinthe disclosure documents and the terms by displaying at least onesection of the matching disclosure documents.

In another aspect of the invention, a system comprises a computerinfrastructure and computer instructions tangibly embodied on storagemedium. The computing instructions comprises: first instructionsoperable to store disclosure documents related to technology evaluation;second instructions operable to receive terms associated with aninnovation of a third party; third instructions operable to parse theterms with the disclosure documents; and fourth instructions operable todisplay at least one of a title and abstract of the stored disclosuredocuments that are associated with the terms found during the parsing.The first, second, third and fourth instructions are stored on thestorage media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in the detailed description whichfollows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way ofnon-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment for implementing processes inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing a process for searching information inaccordance with aspects of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing a process for requesting information inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention generally relates to a system and method for avoidingduplication of effort in drafting documents and, in particular, to asystem and method for avoiding duplication of effort in preparing patentrelated submissions. More specifically, the system and method of thepresent invention is configured to alert an inventor that a potentialoverlap (or no overlap) exists with previously submitted disclosuresand/or patent applications. Also, the system and method of the presentinvention allows new inventors to investigate internal disclosuresubmissions in order to determine whether the subject of interest hasalready been addressed in one or more previous disclosure submissions.In this way, the invention provides an automated and computerized methodand system to assist inventors with the discovery of overlappingdisclosures and/or innovations with respect to new invention ideas.

Advantageously, the system and method of the present invention is moreefficient than currently known methods and systems. For example, thesystem and method of the present invention provides a great deal of timesavings to both new inventors and those responsible for processingdisclosure submissions. Also, the present invention can be implementedwith existing patent tracking tools.

Exemplary System Environment and Infrastructure

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a system, method or computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program productembodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer-usableprogram code embodied in the medium.

Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readablemedium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readablemedium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustivelist) of the computer-readable medium would include the following:

-   -   a portable computer diskette,    -   a hard disk,    -   a random access memory (RAM),    -   a read-only memory (ROM),    -   an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash        memory),    -   a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), and/or    -   an optical storage device.        The computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be        paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is        printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for        instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then        compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable        manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readablemedium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate,propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer usableprogram code may be transmitted using any appropriate transmission mediavia a network.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including an object oriented programming language such asJava, Smalltalk, C++, for example, and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network. This may include, for example, a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using anInternet Service Provider).

More specifically, FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment 10 formanaging the processes in accordance with the invention. To this extent,the environment 10 includes a server 12 that can perform the processesdescribed herein. In particular, the server 12 includes a computingdevice 14. The computing device 14 can be any computing device which iscapable of performing the processes described herein. The computingdevice 14 includes the computer program code (program control)configured to make computing device 14 operable to perform the servicesdescribed herein. In more particularity, the program control provides anefficient way in which to track invention disclosures and, inparticular, provides a system and method for efficiently allowinginventors to review certain portions of previously submitted inventiondisclosures.

In an aspect of the invention, the system and method provides amechanism for the “progressive” release of information. This may be ofvalue in situations when an invention disclosure, for example, is in notyet fully written. For example, the progressive release of informationgives the authors of an “existing invention disclosure” the ability toreveal information about their disclosure in a progressive fashionwithout revealing the entirety of the writing, e.g., “everything” aboutthe invention. This can be achieved using metadata tags, in one example.Such tags may also be of use to easily specify reuse of a section of adisclosure, e.g. a standard kind of diagram that may be used by otherinventors. The progressive release of information can be used to providealerts to inventors. The alert includes progressively displayingsections of disclosure information which overlap with the termsassociated with an invention.

The computing device 14 includes a processor 20, memory 22A, an I/Ointerface 24, and a bus 26. The processor 20 executes the programcontrol, which is stored in the memory 22A and/or storage system 22B asone or computing modules. While executing the program control, theprocessor 20 can read and/or write data to/from the memory 22A, storagesystem 22B, and/or I/O interface 24. The storage system 22B can be anysearchable database that stores preexisting invention disclosuredocuments. The memory 22A can include local memory employed duringactual execution of program code, bulk storage, and cache memories whichprovide temporary storage of at least some program code in order toreduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storageduring execution. In addition, the computing device includes randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and a CPU. The bus 26provides a communications link between each of the components in thecomputing device 14.

The computing device 14 is in communication with an external I/Odevice/resource 28. The external I/O device 28 can comprise any devicethat enables an individual to interact with the computing device 14 andmore specifically the storage system 22B. Specifically, the external I/Odevice 28 may be, for example, a computing system that comprises akeyboard, display and mouse. In this way, the external I/O device 28 canprovide an inventor 40 with an invention submission template, as well asa tool to search for previous submissions in the storage system 22B. Thesearchable template may include, amongst others fields:

-   -   Title    -   Abstract    -   Preferred Embodiment/Invention Detail    -   Alternate Embodiments    -   Tables and Figures    -   Claims

In embodiments, prior to an inventor entering a new submission, theinventor can request information from the database via use of thetemplate. For example, in embodiments, the system and method would allowthe inventor to search in the “Title of Invention” field, and the“Abstract” or “Summary of Invention” fields, prior to enabling access tothe remainder of the fields.

More specifically, since the content of a disclosure is private, currentpatent tools do not allow inventors to search and view disclosureswritten by other inventors. However, in operation, the system and methodof the present invention would enable an inventor to search on the“Title” and “Abstract” fields (or “Summary of Invention” field) of thestorage system 22B. In embodiments, the “Title” and “Abstract” fields(or “Summary of Invention” field) would be configured as globallyreadable, where the remaining core details and claims of the disclosuresstored therein would continue to be private. By allowing search oftitles and abstracts, for example, the inventor can gain the knowledgewith respect to whether or not their current innovative idea has alreadybeen submitted by other inventors, thus saving time and effort involvedin researching, writing, submitting, and defending the idea.Additionally, by reading existing titles and abstracts, the inventor mayalso be encouraged to think of a new or different way to accomplish thepotential idea thus providing the company with additional coverage in aparticular area of art. In further embodiments, the inventor may requestadditional information from the inventors of the previously submitteddisclosure, or from other third parties as discussed in more detail withreference to FIG. 3.

The computing device 14 can comprise any general purpose computingarticle of manufacture capable of executing the computer program codeinstalled thereon (e.g., a personal computer, server, handheld device,etc.). However, it is understood that the computing device 14 is onlyrepresentative of various possible equivalent-computing devices that mayperform the processes described herein. To this extent, in embodiments,the functionality provided by the computing device 14 can be implementedby a computing article of manufacture that includes any combination ofgeneral and/or specific purpose hardware and/or computer program code.In each embodiment, the program code and hardware can be created usingstandard programming and engineering techniques, respectively.

Similarly, the server 12 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inembodiments, the server 12 comprises two or more computing devices(e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over any type ofcommunications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or the like, toperform the process described herein. Further, while performing theprocesses described herein, one or more computing devices on the server12 can communicate with one or more other computing devices external tothe server 12 using any type of communications link. The communicationslink can comprise any combination of wired and/or wireless links; anycombination of one or more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a widearea network, a local area network, a virtual private network, etc.);and/or utilize any combination of transmission techniques and protocols.

In embodiments, the invention provides a method that performs the stepsof the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. Thatis, a service provider, such as a Solution Integrator, could offer toperform the processes described herein. In this case, the serviceprovider can create, maintain, deploy, support, etc., the computerinfrastructure that performs the process steps of the invention for oneor more customers. The customers may be, for example, a corporation withan existing or burgeoning patent portfolio or patent developmentprogram. In return, the service provider can receive payment from thecustomer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the serviceprovider can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to oneor more third parties.

Exemplary Processes

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate exemplary processes in accordance with thepresent invention. The steps of FIGS. 2 and 3 may be implemented on thecomputer infrastructure of FIG. 1, for example. The flow diagrams inFIGS. 2 and 3 may be illustrative of the architecture, functionality,and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods andcomputer program products according to various embodiments of thepresent invention. In this regard, each process may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). Itshould also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in thefigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. Each block of the flow diagrams, and combinations of the flowdiagrams illustrations can be implemented by special purposehardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructionsand/or software, as described above.

Additionally, the invention can take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containingboth hardware and software elements. Software includes but is notlimited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. Furthermore, theinvention can take the form of a computer program product accessiblefrom a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing programcode for use by or in connection with a computer or any instructionexecution system. The software and/or computer program product can beimplemented in the environment of FIG. 1. For the purposes of thisdescription, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be anyapparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transportthe program for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (orapparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of acomputer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory,magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an opticaldisk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read onlymemory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

In embodiments, the invention is separated into two different flows. Forexample, the flow of FIG. 2 shows a process to request patent disclosureinformation from a database. FIG. 3, on the other hand, shows a processto obtain permission from one or more inventors to gain access toadditional disclosure documentation, which may be consideredconfidential.

Referring to FIG. 2, in embodiments, the system and method includesfields that are to be completed prior to enabling access to theremainder of the tool in order to prepare a patent disclosure. In theexample, the potential inventor may type a title such as “System forPatent Tracking” (terms), and based on entering that title, may bepresented with the title and abstract of preexisting disclosures suchas, for example, entitled “Method for Tracking Patents” and “PatentWriting Tool and Tracker”. This allows the potential inventor todetermine whether or not to continue the preparation of a newdisclosure. In one embodiment, both the title and abstract fields wouldbe parsed for matching words, terms, and the like, where in anotherembodiment only the title or the abstract would be parsed for matchingwords, terms, and the like.

More specifically, at step 200, the inventor opens the tool of thepresent invention. At this stage, a display will be presented to theinventor which includes fillable fields such as, for example, “title”and “abstract” or other desired sections of non-public proprietaryinformation associated with an innovation already stored in a database.The inventor will complete one or both of these fields. At steps 205 and210, the computer control parse any combination of the title andabstract fields with disclosures existing in the database. At step 215,matches are identified and the titles are presented to the inventor. Inembodiments, the titles can be presented in a tabular format as shown atstep 220. At step 225, the inventor selects a disclosure to review. Atstep 230, the program control retrieves the tile and/or abstract andpresents this limited information to the inventor at step 235. Theretrieved information can show what is or is not overlapping with acurrent disclosure. In this way, it is possible to provide the inventorwith real time alerts about potential overlapping material, conflicts,etc. using a patent disclosure tracking tool.

In FIG. 3, in the event that the preexisting titles and abstracts do notprovide sufficient detail for the potential inventor to determinewhether overlap exists, the present invention introduces an additionalfeature that allows the inventor to request additional disclosure data.For example, in embodiments, a link to request additional data can beprovided such that further disclosure records can be presented to thenew inventor. By clicking a mouse or otherwise selecting this feature, amessage would be sent to the inventors of record (or other third party)for the preexisting disclosure asking permission for the new inventor toview additional disclosure data.

More specifically, at step 300, the inventor is presented with theinitially matched information, similar to that displayed in step 235 ofFIG. 3. At step 305, the inventor selects a displayed icon, pull downmenu, etc. requesting additional information. For example, an icon orpull down menu may include the language, for example, “RequestAdditional Detail” or similar language. In embodiments, when theinventor activates the “Request Additional Detail” feature, a secondarypop-up box would be displayed and would list all of the possiblesections of the disclosure that are a part of the preexistingdisclosure. An example of such sections might include the following:

-   -   Title    -   Abstract    -   Preferred Embodiment/Invention Detail    -   Alternate Embodiments    -   Tables and Figures    -   Claims        The requesting inventor could select one or more of the sections        that they would like to view, after witch, a request detailing        the desired sections would be sent to the inventors of record.

At step 310, the program control finds and retrieves the inventor(s)contact information from, for example, the database and, at step 315,sends a message to the inventors of record. In embodiments, programcontrol can retrieve and contact any number of the inventors of record(or authorized third parties). At step 320, the inventor(s) of recordreply to the request to seek additional information. This reply may bein the form of a “yes” or “no” response. In embodiments,

-   -   any individual inventor of record could grant the right to view        the requested data,    -   a majority would be required, and/or    -   all inventors of record may be required to approve the request.

If the inventor(s) reply yes, the program control will extract orretrieve the requested information from the database at steps 325 and330. The extracted disclosure information will then be forwarded to therequesting inventor at step 335. The extracted information can show whatis or is not overlapping with a current disclosure. In this way, again,it is possible to provide the inventor with real time alerts aboutpotential overlapping material, conflicts, etc. using a patentdisclosure tracking tool.

In embodiments, the inventors can authorize any combination of sectionsfor viewing. As an example, the inventors of record may permit therequesting inventor to view the preferred embodiment and the tables andfigures, but may deny the access to the claims. If the inventor(s) donot provide authorization to view the disclosure, at step 340, therequesting inventor is alerted that the request has been denied.

In embodiments, the request could be sent to outside counsel, in housecounsel or third party arbitrator of record rather than the inventors ofrecord. In yet another embodiment, the request could be sent to theinventors first, and if the requestor is denied access then an appealwould be sent to the outside counsel, in house counsel or third partyarbitrator of record. The arbitrator of record could be a neutral thirdparty, such as a Patent Engineer, that would access the requesteddisclosure data and assist the requesting inventor in determining what,if any, overlap exists with the new idea.

In further embodiments, the inventors or third party (such as, forexample, outside counsel, in house counsel or third party arbitrator ofrecord) may provide summaries or condensations of actual text within anascent or mature disclosure, which others (e.g. other potentialinventors) may access upon request. In this manner, sensitive materialmay be restricted while still allowing others to understand the generalthrust or gist of a section of a disclosure. For example, an artificialagent may be able to extract the general topic of a paragraph by ananalysis of keywords without revealing all of the text.

Metadata may be used within a disclosure to indicate possible prior artsections, references, or other material. These sections may be accessedby other inventors (even if these other inventors may not be able toview the actual contents of the disclosure) in order to betterunderstand: possible prior art for their own invention, perform aninvention gap analysis, or for other purposes. Metadata may beassociated with each section, sentence, word, or paragraph such that thesystem may parse this metadata to understand the sensitivity or accesscharacteristics of these sections. Metadata may also be used to specifywhat degree of maturity a section is in, e.g., if the invention is stillunder construction. For example, an inventor may tag a section as“complete” or as “in progress.” Metadata may also be used to indicatewhich diagrams (or any section) are offered by inventors for reuse byothers. For example, an inventor may have a diagram of a system such asa mainframe that is likely to have reuse value. The inventor may tagthis diagram to indicate that this figure is reusable in otherdisclosures.

In further embodiments, the metadata may also be used to specify arequest for help by a new inventor. For example, if the embodimentsection has a paragraph that needs expert help to complete, this may betagged and interrogated by the system. This facilitates collaborationand the efficient creation of high-quality inventions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims, if any, are intendedto include any structure, material, or act for performing the functionin combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. While the invention has been described interms of embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that theinvention can be practiced with modifications and in the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented on a computer infrastructurecomprising: storing disclosure information related to a plurality ofnon-public proprietary innovations, the disclosure information of eachof the plurality of non-public proprietary innovations including anon-confidential portion and a confidential portion; receiving termsassociated with a first innovation; matching the terms with thenon-confidential portion of each of the plurality of non-publicproprietary innovations included in the stored disclosure information;providing an alert to a user that one or more of the terms overlap witha second innovation of the plurality of non-public proprietaryinnovations included the stored disclosure information based on thematching; receiving a request for additional information related to thesecond innovation; determining one or more inventors associated with thesecond innovation; sending the one or more inventors the request for theadditional information; receiving authorization from at least one of theone or more inventors to view the confidential portion of the secondinnovation; and extracting the some or all of the confidential portionof the second innovation from the stored disclosure information forpresenting to the user, wherein: the receiving terms associated with thefirst innovation comprises providing the user with fillable fields forat least one of a title and an abstract for entering the terms, theproviding the alert includes progressively displaying sections of theconfidential portion of the second innovation, the matching the termswith the stored disclosure information includes parsing informationrelated to at least one of a title and an abstract of the disclosureinformation, the sections of the confidential portion of the secondinnovation include at least one of: preferred embodiment/inventiondetail; alternate embodiments; tables; figures and claims; and thedisclosure information includes metadata that separates sections of thedisclosure information; designates complete or in progress sections; andindicates which sections are offered by inventors for reuse by others.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing infrastructure is atleast one of maintained, deployed, created and supported by a serviceprovider.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by asoftware component, a hardware component or a combination of thesoftware component and the hardware component.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising inserting the metadata that separates the sections ofthe disclosure information; designates the complete and in progresssections; and indicates which of the sections are offered by inventorsfor reuse by others.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the disclosureinformation is for an internal use of the one or more inventors and theone or more third parties and private from use by one or more otherinventors and the user.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprisingreceiving a denial of the request for the additional information fromthe one or more inventors and providing an alert to the user that therequest for the additional information has been denied.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising receiving one or more tags indicating thatthe non-confidential portion is available for reuse by others.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the receiving the one or more tags comprisesreceiving one or more indications from the one or more inventors.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the receiving the one or more indicationsprogressively releases additional portions of the confidential portionof the stored disclosure information.
 10. A computer program productcomprising a tangible computer usable storage medium having readableprogram code tangibly embodied in the tangible computer usable storagemedium, the computer program product being operable to: comparenon-confidential portions of disclosure documents stored in a databasewith terms provided by a user; provide an alert of matching technologywithin the disclosure documents and the terms by displaying at least onesection of the non-confidential portions of the matching disclosuredocuments; parse information related to the at least one sectionincluding at least one of a title of the disclosure documents and anabstract of the disclosure documents; receive a request for additionalinformation related to the matching technology; determine one or moreinventors associated with the matching technology; send the one or moreinventors a request for confidential portions of the matching disclosuredocuments; receive authorization from at least one of the one or moreinventors to view some or all of the confidential portions of thematching disclosure documents; and extract the some or all of theconfidential portions of the matching disclosure documents from thedatabase for presenting to the user; wherein the disclosure documentsinclude metadata that separates sections of the disclosure documents;designates complete or in progress sections; and indicates whichsections are offered by inventors for reuse by others.
 11. The computerprogram product of claim 10, wherein the computer program product isprovided on a computing infrastructure that is at least one ofmaintained, deployed, created and supported by a service provider. 12.The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer programproduct is further operable to insert the metadata to: separate thesections of the disclosure documents; designate the complete and inprogress sections; and indicate which sections are offered by theinventors for reuse by the others.
 13. The computer program product ofclaim 12, wherein the disclosure documents are for an internal use ofthe one or more inventors and the one or more third parties and privatefrom use by one or more other inventors and the user.
 14. The computerprogram product of claim 13, wherein the computer program product isfurther operable to receive a denial of the request for the additionalinformation from the one or more inventors and provide an alert to theuser that the request for the additional information has been denied.15. A system comprising: a processor; a computer readable hardwarestorage device; computing instructions stored on the computer readablehardware storage device that, when executed by the processor, performoperations comprising: storing disclosure documents related totechnology evaluation; receiving terms associated with an innovation ofa third party; parsing the terms with the disclosure documents;displaying non-confidential portions of the stored disclosure documentsthat are associated with the terms found during the parsing, thenon-confidential portions including at least one of titles and abstractsof the stored disclosure documents; receiving a request for additionalinformation related to the stored disclosure information that areassociated with the terms found during the parsing; determining one ormore inventors associated with the stored disclosure information thatare associated with the terms found during the parsing; sending the oneor more inventors a request for the additional information, therequested additional information including confidential portions of thestored disclosure information that are associated with the terms foundduring the parsing; receiving authorization from at least one of the oneor more inventors to view all or portions of the additional informationand extract the all or portions of the additional information from thestored disclosure documents for presenting to a user; and insertingmetadata that separates sections of the disclosure documents; designatescomplete and in progress sections; and indicates which sections areoffered by inventors for reuse by others.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the disclosure documents are for an internal use of the one ormore inventors and private from use by one or more other inventors andthe user.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing instructionsfurther perform operations comprising: receiving a denial of the requestfor the additional information from the one or more inventors; andproviding an alert to the user that the request for the additionalinformation has been denied.